It is finally good to see the Vancouver Canucks back in action after not playing the last 25 days.
The coronavirus took more out of the Canucks than any other team in professional sports as 22 members of the team were placed on the COVID protocol list as well as four members of the coaching staff and organization.
It’s hard to believe that they would get the win on Sunday but that is exactly what happened as they fought back from a two-goal deficit to win.
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BOSTON 6 WASHINGTON 3
The Boston Bruins got a huge game from their top line as Brad Marchand, Patrice Bergeron and David Pastrnak combined for 10 points to defeat the first-place Washington Capitals 6-3.
Marchand led the charge with two goals and a pair of assists while Bergeron also had two goals with one helper. Pastrnak assisted on three of the line’s four markers.
Tuukka Rask was in the Boston net for the second time since returning to action on Thursday (getting Friday off as Jeremy Swayman was between the pipes) and stopped 30-of-33 shots to up his record to 10-4-2. He has a 2.39 GAA and a .910 save percentage.
T.J. Oshie scored a pair (for the second Sunday in a row) to lead the Capitals. Anthony Mantha, picked up his 15th of the season and it was the fourth straight game since his trade from Detroit in which he has scored. He has a five-game goal scoring streak (he scored in his last game as a Red Wing) and is red-hot at this time.
It was not the best of times for Vitek Vanecek who gave up five goals on only 27 shots. He is 17-9-3 this season with a 2.84 GAA and a .905 save percentage.
It was not a great afternoon for Alex Ovechkin who did have five shots on goal but was a minus-four. Still, that was better than John Carlson who was a minus-five.
Nicklas Backstrom and Craig Smith each had a pair of assists.
Jeremy Lauzon had eight hits.
NEW YORK RANGERS 5 NEW JERSEY 3
In a wild game, the Rangers got off to a 3-0 lead, saw New Jersey come back to even the score in the third before Mika Zibanejad scored on the power play with three minutes to go in the game as New York defeated the Devils 5-3.
It was a joyous occasion for rookie Vitali Kravtsov who scored his first career NHL goal to give the Rangers a 2-0 lead after Chris Kreider’s 19th of the season, and a power play goal to boot, opened the scoring.
Rookie Alexis Lafreniere made it 3-0 before Mikhail Maltsev cut the lead to two before the end of the second period.
Marian Studenic also made it a game to remember as he scored his first career goal to make it 3-2 and Nico Hischier tied the score at 3 with his third of an injury-riddled season.
Ryan Strome scored into the empty net to finish the scoring with 25 seconds remaining.
The Rangers swept all four games with New Jersey as the two teams played each other in a rare NHL week.
Alexandar Georgiev started the contest, making 10 stops before suffering an injury with 2:19 left in the first. After needing help off the ice, Igor Shesterkin replaced him for the remainder of the first before Georgiev returned at the start of the second to finish the game and get his seventh win of the season and third in his last four starts. The Rangers netminder stopped 25 shots while Shesterkin turned aside both of his shots on goal.
Mackenzie Blackwood turned aside 21-of-25 shots and took the loss, dropping his record to 9-15-3. It has not been a pleasant April for Blackwood who has lost six-straight while giving up 24 goals on 145 shots and not having a save percentage better than .895 in any game.
Artemi Panarin had two assists.
Hischier had seven shots on goal.
Jack Hughes had 12 penalty minutes including a misconduct when he tripped Anthony Bitetto and went on too long with the referee.
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BUFFALO 4 PITTSBURGH 2
Sam Reinhart scored twice including his 17th of the season, as the Buffalo Sabres upset the Pittsburgh Penguins 4-2.
Arttu Ruotsalainen opened the scoring with his second of the season and Reinhart’s two goals gave the Sabres a 3-0 lead with less than 12 minutes left in the game.
Jason Zucker ended the shutout bid of Dustin Tokarski but Rasmus Asplund restored the Sabres three goal lead with 1:48 left in the third into the empty net to salt away the win.
Teddy Blueger scored his fifth of the season with 24 seconds left but it was too little, too late for the Penguins who had a glorious opportunity to climb within a point of division-leading Washington, but failed to do so.
Tokarski made 36 saves as he won his second game in his last three starts. He is 2-5-2 with a 3.15 GAA and a .914 save percentage for a not very good Buffalo team.
Casey DeSmith gave up three goals on 28 shots in taking the loss. The Pittsburgh netminder is 10-6-0 this season.
Rasmus Dahlin and Victor Olofsson each had a pair of assists. Dahlin had eight shots on goal.
Rasmus Ristolainen had eight hits.
VEGAS 5 ANAHEIM 2
Mark Stone, Max Pacioretty and Nicolas Roy each had a goal and an assist as the Vegas Golden Knights easily defeated the Anaheim Ducks 5-2.
For Stone, it was his fourth straight game with two points giving him 15 goals and 50 points this season, in what is shaping up to be the best of his career.
Alex Tuch and defenseman Alex Pietrangelo also scored for Vegas.
Danton Heinen and Max Comtois replied for Anaheim.
Marc-Andre Fleury picked up the start for Vegas and stopped 33 as Anaheim outshot the Golden Knights 35-29. Fleury won his third in a row and is 20-10-0 this season with a 2.09 GAA and a .925 save percentage.
John Gibson lost his fourth straight game, stopping 24-of-28 shots as he is 8-16-6 this season with a 2.98 GAA and a .903 save percentage.
It was quite a night for Alec Martinez as he had a pair of assists as well as seven blocked shots and four hits.
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NEW YORK ISLANDERS 1 PHILADELPHIA 0 (Overtime)
Igor Sorokin stopped all 30 shots for his third shutout of the season as the New York Islanders defeated Philadelphia 1-0.
Sorokin has been amazing since starting the season with a couple of losses, giving up seven goals on 56 shots. He is 12-2-1 since January 24th and has a 2.02 GAA and a .922 save percentage and in tandem with Semyon Varlamov, has given the Islanders the second-best (if not the best) goaltending in the NHL.
Nick Leddy was the hero as his second of the season in overtime was the only goal of the contest.
Brian Elliott tried to match Sorokin shot-for-shot but picked up the overtime loss as he gave up a goal on 28 shots. Elliott is 11-6-2 this season with a 2.93 GAA and a .892 save percentage.
VANCOUVER 3 TORONTO 2 (Overtime)
Bo Horvat’s second goal of the game in overtime capped an improbable comeback as the COVID-ridden Vancouver Canucks beat the first place Toronto Maple Leafs 3-2.
The Canucks as mentioned in the opener, had not played in 25 games as the team was ravaged by the coronavirus and only started practicing a couple of days ago. It was thought Toronto would have an easy time of it, going against a struggling Vancouver team that was not in shape anymore, but that was not the case.
William Nylander, who came off the COVID protocol list himself as he was exposed to a person who was positive (Nylander never did test positive), opened the scoring in the first period and then set up Auston Matthews in the second period on the power play. It was Matthews 33rd goal of the season as he leads the NHL in the Rocket Richard Trophy race by seven goals over Colorado’s Mikko Rantanen.
Bo Horvat cut the lead in half before the end of the second while Nils Hoglander tied it at 2 with Horvat picking up an assist on the goal, sending it into overtime and Horvat’s winner.
Braden Holtby was sensational in net for the Canucks who were outshot 39-24. Holtby has had a tough go of it this season as he was thought to be the starter when he signed a two-year deal in the off-season, but a combination of his poor start and the great play of Thatcher Demko before the Canucks went on a pause. Holtby is 5-6-2 with a 3.44 GAA and a .899 save percentage.
Jack Campbell got the start for the Maple Leafs and saw his record dip to 11-2-1. He won his first 11 games but has struggled in the last week with two regulation losses and Sunday’s overtime loss.
Alexander Edler could be facing disciplinary action from the NHL as he picked up a major for kneeing and a game misconduct midway through the second period. He had 17 penalty minutes on the evening.
Matthews had seven shots on goal and returned after missing Thursday’s game. He played 23:40, second-best on the Maple Leafs to Morgan Rielly’s 24:00.
Congratulations to the Canucks on an important victory in less than ideal circumstances.
NIGHTLY LEADERS
Goals
Brad Marchand – 2
Patrice Bergeron – 2
David Krejci – 2
T.J. Oshie – 2
Sam Reinhart – 2
Bo Horvat – 2
Assists
David Pastrnak – 3
Brad Marchand – 2
Craig Smith – 2
Nicklas Backstrom – 2
Artemi Panarin – 2
Rasmus Dahlin – 2
Victor Olofsson – 2
Alec Martinez – 2
John Tavares – 2
Shots on Goal
Rasmus Dahlin – 8
Nico Hischier – 7
Auston Matthews – 7
Hits
Jeremy Lauzon – 8
Rasmus Ristolainen – 8
Nic Dowd – 6
Penalty Minutes
Garnet Hathaway – 19
Alexander Edler – 12
Jack Hughes – 12
Connor Clifton – 8
